


Bright Light

by narrywings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cute!niall, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Niall-centric, Oblivious!Niall, You got to love Niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-14
Updated: 2013-09-14
Packaged: 2017-12-26 14:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/966980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narrywings/pseuds/narrywings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there’s one thing Harry knows for sure it’s that Niall is like some sort of light. </p><p>Or the one where the boys look to Niall in times of darkness. Niall centric with lots of fluff and a deep analysis of why Niall is just a wonderfully amazingly bright human being.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright Light

**Author's Note:**

> So this sort of popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until it was written. So here it is!   
> Feedback is always appreciated. So let me know what you think. :)

Niall always finds things amazing; he practically has the mind of a four year old and can look at things with such childlike wonder. Whatever sort of contraption, Niall wants to know how it works down to the letter and will still find a scary amount of pleasure just watching it. His latest obsession has been those silly Executive Toys that people have on their desks. They’re essentially useless, but Niall finds them amazing anyway. It baffles Louis really. That Niall can be so easily amused by anything. 

He can sit there on his own and still find something to keep him occupied for hours on end. He makes his own fun and can sit playing guitar for hours at a time until his fingers bleed just making up new songs and melodies. Louis knows he could never get bored of watching Niall. He’s always doing something, always moving in some sort of way – despite the fact that he has a dodgy knee that could fail him at any point. He hates being idle and sitting down for long interviews. Niall prefers performing, releasing all his pent up energy and throwing himself into a grand performance and seeing all their many fans screaming their lungs out. 

It’s probably why Niall’s so suited to being a performer in the first place. Even after their shows Niall’s still bouncing off the walls two hours later – much to Zayn’s disappointment. Louis never minds, him simply takes Niall by the hand and leads him outside with a football and they kick it back and forth while Louis listens as Niall talks and talks. He tells him how amazing it is, how amazing their lives are. Louis already knows of course, but he lets Niall go on and on and lets him work it out his system. Then once Niall’s run out of energy – which is amazing in its self – he leads him back inside half carrying him and puts him back to bed with a kiss on his temple. By morning Niall’s always back to his normal hyper-active self, running around and driving Paul mad when he goes missing after “borrowing” one of the segways. Louis loves watching him drive away on it laughing as Paul and Preston chase after him shouting all sorts of Irish profanities at him. It’s one of the reasons Louis always hijacks Niall and attempts to involve him in his many plots and schemes – much to Paul’s distress. Niall can always get away with it after all. He’s too cute for his own good. 

Louis guess that’s why people are always so drawn to him – that and Niall has an amazing sense of humour after all. Louis can always rely on him to laugh at something when he tries to be funny. He knows if he didn’t have Niall, if they didn’t have Niall, their worlds would run at a much slower pace without Niall racing about. He’s always there to brighten the mood and Louis doesn’t know what they would have done without it recently.

They’ve been doing a lot, maybe too much. They’re on tour, they’re doing the album at the same time, and added to that there’s the promotional stuff for the movie. Its running them ragged sine they’ve also had events to go to as well, such as the Teen Choice Award’s and VMA’s. 

The Teen Choice Award’s hadn’t gone so well. They’d kind of felt like they hadn’t given it their best performance. Louis especially feels like crap. He’d sort of maybe said the words “oh shit” before his solo and because of that had made it pretty clear that he’d been nervous as hell and uncomfortable about singing the song. People were bound to pick up on that and the media would rip them to bits for it. 

More than anything he feels responsible. He’d been the one to fuck up, and while the others hadn’t exactly been thrilled with the song choice, they hadn’t gone and made it plain as day to the world. 

Once off stage Louis begins to ready himself for leaving. He’d got a flight to catch and wants to make it home as soon as he can, because he feels like crap right now. 

Liam’s going too and he knows Niall has a flight booked and isn’t staying. So that just leaves Harry and Zayn to make the band look somewhat sociable; he’s actually genuinely surprised Niall isn’t staying really. 

They’ve all moved round into a circle like they do after every performance and it’s just to bring them down from the high really and make sure everyone’s okay. Their team knows to give them space while they do this and no one’s come to bother them yet because of it. 

“Well that could have gone better…” Louis finds himself saying glumly to no one in particular, and he guesses that he was really saying it more to himself in the end. 

Liam makes a face at the floor and Louis knows he’s probably thinking the same but doesn’t want to bring a downer on the whole thing anymore than they already have. 

“Don’t be stupid” Niall then says out of nowhere and Louis’s head snaps up to look at him in shock, only to find that usual Niall smile on his face. “I think it went well considering we’ve only sung it live twice before. We’re getting better at it really if you think about it! Remember the first time we sung it about a week ago? We were so scared and didn’t want to do it. But now we’re just going with it, and that’s good because practice makes perfect and all that shit!” he tells them with way to much enthusiasm. 

Harry actually smiles once Niall’s said his piece and Zayn looks a little better, even Liam seems to have cracked a small grin. 

But Louis, he just doesn’t feel it. 

“Yeah, but you weren’t the one who fucked up were you? You got through you solo without a hitch” he says and doesn’t mean it to sound to scornful, because he knows Niall is only trying to help and would never rub it in his face. 

He’s actually shocked when Niall rolls his eyes at him, because since when did Niall start sassing people? 

“Yeah well we’ve all been there haven’t we? Harry did it on Red and Black all those years ago and Zayn wasn’t even with us for one performance and you forgot the words in Cardiff and I messed up my solo at the Staples Centre of all places! So you’re not getting away with that Lou!” he tells him cheerily and swings an arm around his shoulder. “Besides the songs new anyway and it’s sort of the first time we’ve performed it for a TV show, and we’re bound to not have perfected it yet. In my eyes they can all go fuck themselves and if anyone abandons us because of one performance who cares ‘cause they’re obviously not real fans if they can’t accept us with our flaws” 

The words warm Louis a little and he knows Niall’s right. He might still be upset about it, but he knows he’s not alone. As normal these lads understand how he’s feeling and he knows they’re not going to judge him. 

Niall just always knows how to make a bad situation better. 

It’s something him tells himself once they’re all done hugging later and telling each other that they’ll miss one another and see you soon. Niall’s still laughing even when he walks over to his ride back to the hotel blowing kisses at Louis through the window. 

He really does amaze Louis with his ability to be positive even when the world seems against them.

-X-

Zayn has always wondered why Niall is so touchy feely all the time. He’s always touching one of them and it’s something Zayn really has had to get used to since they were first put together. Niall would always sling an arm around him and bump his hip into his instead of saying “hey” like a normal person. Sometimes he even runs up behind him and hugs him – it always used to make him jump out of his skin and swear abruptly. Niall had always used to find it funny and laugh like the maniac he is. Zayn had found that hard as well - the fact that Niall was always speaking or laughing or humming. 

There’s always so much noise around Niall. He sometimes has his music on late at night before he falls asleep and Zayn can always hear it in the bunk beneath Niall’s. The other boys don’t seem to mind really, but it had used to piss Zayn off when he could still hear the music playing from Niall’s ear phones from the other side of the room. He is after all impossible to wake up once he is asleep since he’s such a deep sleeper, but before he actually goes to sleep he likes to have the room quiet. Of course like the many things he wasn’t used to with Niall he eventually has gotten used to them; and now he’s found he can’t actually get to sleep if he doesn’t hear Niall’s usual playlist sounding throughout the room. But he now loves the fact that Niall is always so loud and bubbly. He can’t stand to see Niall quiet, it’s not right. Whenever Niall goes silent, it’s not hard to work out that something must be wrong. He’s like a child that’s been told no and won’t move a muscle or make so much as a sound; and Zayn hates it. 

They had once had a new guy called Steve come into their management team. The guy had been warned by Paul when he had been giving out tips to him on how to deal with the boys that he should be fine as long as he didn’t upset Niall. Zayn only knows this because Paul had later told him. 

But Steve had been in charge of one of their rehearsals one morning and was meant to be giving them guidance on how to do the next set of shows. They had been given a lot more say on how they wanted to do the shows now and only really needed someone there to guide them now and tell them if something was possible to do or not. However it seemed that Steve hadn’t got the memo because he was trying to boss them around like children. 

Louis had given the signal to just go along with it for now and humour the guy and had assured them they’d just do their own thing later. Of course this had rose a few cheeky giggles from Niall and as soon as Steve had heard it he’d shot Niall such a venomous look that Niall had actually flinched and taken a step back. Zayn had seen Louis catch the look and watched as the sassy boy had shot a haughty look back at him. 

“If you’re done having your little get together I’d like it if you got back to work now, and stopped giggling like five year olds, you do realise you have a show to focus on and it’s not going to go very well if you don’t know what you’re doing” the older man had told them looking very much unimpressed and Zayn knew most of it had been directed at Niall, who was now crimson with embarrassment. 

It had taken Zayn a lot to pull himself together and not smack the guy in the face in a fit of rage. Because there really hadn’t been any need for that. But Niall had sent him a bright smile as if he knew what Zayn was thinking and wanted to assure him he was fine. But to Zayn it really wasn’t fine, and he mentally made a note to keep his eye on Steve. 

They all take the positions that they have been given and start to roll into the first song for the show. Just as they’re about half way through Niall suddenly bumps into Zayn by mistake while he had been running about the stage and falls. It’s a complete accident and Zayn immediately drops down to pull him up and check him over for injury – because Niall always seems to forget that his knee could knock out of place at any time so everyone has to remind him to be careful. 

“Hey, easy there Ni, don’t want you inju-”

“Stop! Stop, stop, stop!” Steve yells over the music waving his hands around and the band behind them stop playing their instruments and look down at Steve in confusion - because the boys are always falling about the place and it’s really not that big a deal, if anything it makes their show more unique and funny. 

Zayn catches Louis whirl round to say something, most likely sassy but he never gets a chance as Steve goes on a tangent. 

“What was Niall?! Will you please stop running about the stage and acting like a child! For saying you’re meant to be part of a band you don’t act like it seeing as you can’t even seem to keep yourself upright. You’re meant to be putting on a show, this isn’t a game! People are expecting world class talent not a crappy comedy performance!” 

It appears that it’s not just Zayn who’s horrified by what Steve has just said. He hear Josh’s drumstick drop to the floor and the rest of the music band have got their mouths open wide in shock. The crew are also looking at Steve with varied degrees of horror and irritation. 

Zayn feels his hand form into fist the moment he sees Niall curl in slightly on himself as the words are spoken. 

It’s not a secret in the band that Niall is ever so slightly conscious about himself, whether it be his physical image or his personality, Niall is always cautious is what people think of him – not matter how much he trys to deny it and hide behind his blinding smile. So Zayn, and the other boys most likely, know without a doubt that Niall’s going to take everything that Steve has just said to heart and remember it. 

“What the hell did you just say?” Zayn asks coldly and from the corner of his eye he sees Harry move over to Niall and pull him close. 

Steve doesn’t miss a beat though and he’s quick to respond. He doesn’t seem fazed that they’ve all now moved to centre stage and have formed a small pack around Niall, as though ready for confrontation. Zayn knows for a fact that they’re musical band will have their backs too if anything goes wrong. They’re all a family, and if anyone messes with that this is what happens. 

“I’m sure you heard me the first time. Anyway, get it together Niall we have a show to continue with so get back into position” he barks back and Zayn finds himself moving forward to go and do some damage, but a hand on his shoulder stops him. 

It’s Niall. He looks up at him with a look that basically stops him in his tracks. He’s giving him a soft smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes at all. He doesn’t like that fake smile at all, and the fury that had been building inside comes back tenfold. 

“Don’t” Niall tells him, but his voice wavers his accent a little thicker indicating that he’s upset. 

Zayn’s always been protective of all the boys, but there’s something about Niall that makes him go that little bit further and want to wrap him up and never let anything take away that light behind his eyes. 

But this prick has, and Zayn is not going to let that slide.

So Niall’s made it clear that he can’t punch the guy… 

That doesn’t mean he can’t do something else though. 

“Paul!” he yells out, knowing that the man is about somewhere. 

He feels sorry for him sometimes; because whatever something goes wrong it’s always him they’re yelling for. 

In the end the guy gets removed from the tour and they haven’t seen him since. 

He spends the rest of the night with Niall, speaking to him in soft whispers and reassuring him that he’s perfect the way he is and shouldn’t feel the need to change just because of something that some stuck up prat had said. 

It takes a while, but Niall eventually comes round and falls asleep curled into his side. 

The next morning he finds a shirt that he had been admiring the other day when they gone shopping lying at the bottom of his bunk with a note that has his name scrawled in Niall’s curled writing on it. 

He rolls over and takes the note between his fingers to read a smile curling onto his lips. 

Thanks for yesterday. You didn’t have to stick up for me like that. But thank you anyway. The shirts for you, I chose it out myself since you have no style! :P 

He realises later that Niall won’t look at him over breakfast, and has his head down, cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. 

He really is cute when he thinks about it. 

-X-

Niall’s such a people person, and Liam can’t help but admire his confidence in talking to people he barley knows. He wonders how an earth Niall manages to know what to say to them. He just does it so effortlessly.

Niall is always the one who will go up to people they don’t know at parties and other social meetings. He introduces them and makes a good impression and soon has whoever it is laughing within moments.

It was the same back on the X-Factor, everyone just flocked to Niall and his easy going personality and bags of talent. He was rarely seen alone on the show and was always surrounded by a crowd of people while he say happily on the inside playing his guitar while everyone else would sing along and show off their voices. He remembered being just that little bit jealous of the way Niall was so well liked, but now he could understand the fascination with the blonde boy since he had been lucky enough to be able to now call him one of his best friends.

Even when the rest of them were tired and couldn’t be bothered to deal with people Niall would pull it out of the bag and use that endless energy to make everyone think they were all amazing. He just knew what to say and do. He had taken to fame better than any of them and made the most of the flashing cameras that followed them everywhere they went. 

Liam personally didn’t know how he did it.

But that was Niall all over. He could just adapt so well to any situation. He was always smiling and running around laughing and joking with members of their crew and making friends with them. He and Harry had recently taken up golf and he was always inviting other people to come and join them. People just seemed to like Niall and Liam could see why. He was just such a ray of sunshine that seemed to brighten up all of their days, even when they were in the foulest of moods.

Which was why he had been so confused when Niall had suddenly had an inflow of hate from fans.

They had been due to do a few photoshoots in Sweden at the time and had been getting ready to leave for the day; the only person they had been waiting for was Niall. Liam had passed his room to wake him up as he always did, since Louis would go and wake Zayn. He’d heard Niall say something to him through the door that had sounded something like a confirmation that he was up and Liam hadn’t thought much more of it. 

But they only had ten more minutes before they had to go and it took about five to get Louis to calm down and Zayn to check over his appearance again. So he had just decided to go and get Niall now before he dealt with them – plus he wasn’t sure if Niall had eaten yet and if he knew Niall like he thought he did he was going to want to eat before he left.

But as he reached Niall’s door he couldn’t hear any sign that Niall was even up.

“Niall?” he called nervously while tapping his fingers against the wood of the door.

No one answered.

“Hey I’m coming in alright? So you best not be naked or anything” to be honest they had seen each other in the nude plenty of times. But Liam liked to think he had managed to retain his manners.

When he opened the door with his spare key he had got from Paul he was surprised to find Niall’s bed empty. He had half been expecting to find him still in bed hiding under the covers. Everyone knew that after Zayn the worst person for sleeping was Niall, and he tended to be quite grumpy if he didn’t get to sleep when he wanted to.

“Niall?” he called again, but once more didn’t receive any reply.

He frowned and walked across to the door of the ensuite of the hotel room and pressed his ear against the door listening for sounds of the shower running. Instead he heard an odd choking noise from the other side and in a panic nearly yanked the door off its hinges to open it.

Inside he found Niall sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest staring at his phone. He was in a pair of dark navy jeans and a simple white t-shirt meaning he had obviously been up when Liam had gone past this morning. But what really threw Liam off was the tears making their way down Niall’s blotchy cheeks in streams. He had jerked his head up and away from his phone when he had heard Liam come charging in and was now looking up at him in horror.

“L-liam?” he stuttered and wiped his eyes with the back if his hand giving a sniff as he did. He sounded tired and Liam wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t slept at all last night from the bags under his eyes.

He could only stand there for a moment in the doorway in shock. Niall didn’t cry… Not ever. So whatever this was it was obviously serious.

“What’s wrong?” he asked and it came out a little harsh really. But he was worried and he wanted to know what had caused this and quick so he could figure out if using any force would remove the issue, because no one hurts the people he cared about; ever.

“It’s nothing… I, I’m just missing home is all…” he said looking at the floor eyes downcast.

Lies…

“Bullshit. You’re a hopeless liar Nialler… I know that’s not it cause you would have come and found one of us and wanted a hug and generally been clingy, not that we mind. But point is your lying so tell me what’s wrong so I can help you”

Niall looked away again and engaged the floor in a staring competition that he was clearly going to lose.

“I don’t think there’s much you can do…” he said in such a soft voice that Liam didn’t believe it was him for a moment.

“What do you mean?” he asked staring at Niall’s phone suspiciously.

“Honestly it’s fine Liam. You don’t have to worry about me so much”

Niall told him softly still not meeting his eyes.

Liam sighed and walked into the bathroom and sat down next to him pulling him close into his side. He then pulled Niall’s phone from his hands and stared down at the small device.

Niall had been on twitter, which didn’t surprise him much, Niall was addicted to twitter and posting tweets about everything they were doing and it was more than obvious who was the best at keeping their fans up to date. But what did surprise Liam was the tweets that were on the screen. They were all horrible message directed towards Niall. They were talking about his teeth and saying that even though he had had them corrected that he was still ugly, and that he should just stop eating because he was getting fat. They went on and on talking about his taste in music, his clothes, his hair, nearly every part that made Niall himself was being picked apart and made fun of. Liam just couldn’t believe it.

He felt a swell of anger boil within him, a sort of need to protect Niall from these people who were clearly only trying to make him feel bad.

“You don’t believe this do you?” he asked through gritted teeth and without looking away from Niall’s phone.

He felt Niall tense under his him and it was all the answer he needed.

“You had better not. This is all bullshit Niall, and who should know better, these people who don’t know the first real thing about you, or me who knows you inside out?”

Niall said nothing in response; instead he curled closer into Liam’s side. Liam couldn’t help but smile and place a short kiss into Niall’s mess of blonde hair.

“You don’t think they’re right though do you? I mean I know I’ve put on weight and all, but it’s not that much is it?” Niall asked slowly sounding hesitant all of a sudden and it breaks Liam’s heart. Niall is never hesitant; he’s normally always so confident and sure of himself. But this is Niall underneath all of that. They all know deep down that Niall does question himself sometimes and the hate does sometimes get to him no matter what he tells other people.

“Don’t be silly! You haven’t put on any weight; your body won’t let you remember? You and annoying metabolism!” he laughed and watched as a small smile crept over Niall’s lips.

It’s a small achievement, but an achievement none the less; and he’s going to take what he can right now.

“Don’t listen to people who don’t really know you Niall. I learned that the hard way… The lads and me, all of our crew, family and friends, they’re the people you should listen to if you want an honest opinion on yourself. Haters are bound to say horrible things cause they don’t like you. But there’s thousands of other fans who do…” he smiled and then tapped a few things into Niall’s phone and turned the screen around to show him.

He’d brought up another page on twitter that was alive with compliments and kind words from adoring fans. They were tweeting about how amazing Niall’s voice was, how utterly perfect he was in general, how they loved that he could play guitar, speak Spanish and was the only Irish member in the band. Liam felt a grin grow on his face as he watched Niall read through them. At first his face was painted in shock but then slowly it began to burn red with the mass of flattering comments that he was seeing.

He laughed again and pulled Niall closer to his side jostling him slightly as he did.

“See? There’s of a ton of people who can see the real you and how special you are. So please don’t believe those fakers again okay? If you ever feel sad make sure to go and find these people and talk to them. They’ll set you straight” Liam told him grinning down at him.

Niall threw a smile at him and held his phone tightly in his hands leaning his head against Liam’s shoulder.

“Our fans are the best…” he said sleepily.

“Oi! No don’t go to sleep. We’ve got work to do. Shit Niall! We were supposed to be down about ten minutes ago! Paul’s going to murder us. Will you get up now?!”

But he’d glad, and Niall no longer goes looking for hate on the internet. Instead he comes into his room and flops down on his bed and stays with him for the rest of night pining for hugs and stealing whatever food he has going.

But he’s happy because he’d rather have Niall do that then sit alone in his bathroom crying.

-X-

If there’s one thing Harry knows for sure it’s that Niall is like some sort of light.

He knows it sounds crazy, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever say it out loud, but it’s also true.

Whenever any of them feel down, Niall’s there, almost as if he knows that something isn’t right. Sometimes he just walks past with some ridiculous hat on his head. Other times he zooms past on a Segway laughing at something that probably isn’t even that funny. But no matter what it is he’s doing it never fails to make Harry smile no matter what sort of shitty mood he’s in.

That’s the thing about Niall really. He’s always so happy. He doesn’t really have a negative side to him. He can always look at a situation with such a positive light no matter how bad it is. It’s something that Harry finds himself greatly relying on at times. As long as Niall can still smile he knows things will be okay. As long as he’s still smiling he tells himself. So it’s very rare that Niall isn’t okay, and the boys know if Niall isn’t laughing or smiling then something is wrong. Something is very wrong.

So when Niall comes walking through the bus one morning while they’re on tour looking at the floor with such a dead look to him, they know something’s very, very wrong.

He’s dressed in one of Harry’s hoodies that literally drowns him and the sleeves fall way past his slim fingers. His hairs all messed up from sleep and his eyes, God his eyes, they don’t look like Niall’s at all. They’re all red rimmed and so, so very dark right now and Harry knows that he must have been crying.

Niall doesn’t cry; ever.

Even if when he does, Zayn’s so quick to threaten murder to whoever or whatever has caused them that Niall bursts out laughing so quick that the tears stop instantly. Of cause then he doesn’t have the time to think about whatever it was that was bothering him because he’s too busy trying to stop Zayn from committing manslaughter.

“Hey what’s wrong Irish?” Louis asks when he spots Niall teetering around their small kitchen in silence.

Niall pauses and glances over before going back to stare at the counter beneath him. Though it doesn’t look like he’s going to eat anything, and that worries Harry more.

“Nothing, its fine, just tired” he says softly rubbing at his eyes to reinforce the lie he most likely just told.

By now Niall has all of them worried, because as everyone most likely knows when someone says that “nothing’s wrong” there most likely is – Niall’s odd behaviour just proves this.

Harry scoots up and out of his seat and moves his way over to Niall and wraps his arms around his waist and sighs.

“You’re a crap liar Nialler” he says softly into Niall’s hair. Again he frowns when he feels the Irish boy go still beneath his touch, because Niall doesn’t do still. 

Then Niall shakes and a soft sob comes from him all of a sudden. It scares Harry at first and all he can think is that he must have hurt Niall somehow, even though all he did was wrap the boy up in his arms.

“It’s just, I haven’t seen my family in ages and I haven’t spoken to them very much” he cries, and Harry’s mind begins to work everything out piece by piece. “We haven’t had much time because of all the promo work and it just feels like forever since I’ve spoken to them properly… I, I just miss them so much” he sobs into Harry’s shoulder taking deep breathes as he does.

Then everything makes sense. The reason Niall’s been being so quiet and didn’t say anything. Niall is a very homily person and needs to speak and see his family and friends from home on a regular basis to keep him happy. If he doesn’t see them for a while he begins to feel guilty and bad for not doing; even though Niall’s parents never pressure him into going home just to see them.

Niall’s family like the rest understand that they don’t have very much free time to jet home and can’t make special trips all the time. This is why when they do go home and see them they all make the most of the time they have. It’s really made them all value their families a lot more, and so now arguments don’t happen because the boys know that time is just so important to them now.

“It’s okay Niall. C’mon now, don’t cry…” he coaches Niall softly trying to get the smaller boy to calm down slightly as he tries to remember the last time that Niall had called home and draws a blank.

He thinks for a moment about how much time they currently have. It’s about 07:30 in the morning right now and they have to be gone in ten minutes for another long day of interviews and promo work. A grimace falls on his face as he turns to Liam and gives him a “look” that says everything it needs to. Liam’s soon upon his feet and is moving toward the door without a word.

Louis scoots over on the sofa that he’s sat on and makes a gesture at Harry to bring Niall over, which he does. He sits down next to Louis and pulls Niall into his lap caging him in his arms and rubbing his back in a calming manner. 

Zayn comes over bringing with him a plate of brownies, because only Niall could eat such a thing for breakfast, and places them down on the coffee table in front of them and disappears again into the bunk area.

“It’s okay Niall. They won’t be mad at you. They understand like all our parents do” Louis says giving Niall that smile that holds none of the usual teasing and completely genuine.

Niall only nods not saying a word. But his eyes are still red rimmed and leaking tears that are certainly not the happy type.

But then Zayn makes a reappearance out of nowhere and holds out Niall’s phone to him with a solemn look. Niall takes it looking a little confused when he sees that it’s already calling someone.

“Hello?” he asks softly into the speaker. There’s a pause as Niall waits for the person on the other end to speak, but then his eyes light up in recognition and jumps up from Harry’s lap and runs off into the bunk area slamming the door behind him.

Harry blinks at the sudden exit and turns his confusion to Zayn who’s stood smirking proudly.

“Who the fuck’d you call? Nando’s?” Louis asks crudely frowning up at Zayn.

Zayn laughs and shakes his head taking one of the brownies from the table and flops down onto the sofa next to Harry.

“Nah! I called Greg. He’s apparently round his dads place anyway and after I explained what was going on he wanted to speak to Niall” Zayn explains with a smile as Liam comes barrelling into the room.

“Paul says they rescheduled the interviews for later, so we have the morning off” he tells them frowning when he sees Zayn eating one of the brownies. “If you’re that hungry why don’t you make yourself a slice of toast! Brownies are not for breakfast Zayn! Eat something healthier please!”

“You let Niall eat what he wants for breakfast” Zayn grumbles and heads for their small kitchen.

“Yeah, well Niall has the metabolism of a… Wait… Where is Niall anyway?” Liam asks looking around the other boys and finding them one Irishman down.

“He’s in the back talking to Greg” Harry tells him smiling when Liam looks relived.

A sudden laugh then breaks though the room and Niall appears in the doorway beaming from ear to ear still on the phone.

“Yeah! I’ll see you soon. Miss you loads… Haha! Say hi to Sean and the lads for me! Bye!” he ends the call and beam at the rest of them.

“…So you okay?” Louis asks opening his arms for a hug.

Niall just grins at him and barrels into the hug knocking the two of them into the sofa.

“Yeah!” Niall cries before leaning up to look at the rest of them. “Urm… Thanks guys… For, y’know… Putting up with me and that. I know I’m a bit of a cry baby and stuff so-”

“Don’t be silly Nialler! Louis yells from beneath the blonde.

“Yeah, it’s okay to miss your family Niall. We all do sometimes” Zayn says in agreement.

“Doesn’t matter anyway, we’ve got the morning off. Spoke to Paul earlier. So if you want you can go call your mum or the other lads back home” Liam tells him while preparing something decent for breakfast in the kitchen for Zayn.

Niall eyes open wide in shock as processes what Liam’s just said.

“Seriously?” he asks him.

“Yeah, I asked Paul and he said that they’re going to reschedule the interviews for later on. He said it might be a good idea actually because we’ve apparently been very difficult lately. He apparently has a theory that it’s because we haven’t had any down time recently so-”

“Awesome! Gonna go call me mam!” Niall yells back at them as he shoots off into the bunk area again and they just catch the words “hi mam” before the door clicks shut.

Louis grins as he watches the spectacle and shakes his head.

“Well at least he’s feeling better right? Would have been really shit in the interviews if he hadn’t been his normal self right?” the cheeky lad asks.

Harry can only smile because in many ways Niall keeps them all smiling. When any of them are down or not feeling good, Niall comes bounding over with a smile and some funny story to tell. Niall keeps them all in high spirits when things seem bad with his endless energy. He keeps them grounded at times by doing something completely mad or just saying something quirky to catch them off guard.

He’s just this bright light for them, and Harry knows he’s do anything to protect that.


End file.
